a) Field of the Invention
With the advent of wholesale warehousing of consumer products including such stores as Sam's Club, Home Depot, and Costco, as well as the increased efficiencies in supplier side warehousing, the internal organization and reorganization of these large-scale facilities has become increasingly common. For example, Home Depot might have changing storage requirements depending on the season or based on changing consumer preferences. Thus, reorganization of the warehouse/store pallett racks occurs more often than in years past. To reorganize such a facility requires movement of the large-scale pallett racks which inhabit the warehouse and generally define the interior organization and aisles through which traffic occurs.
The palette racks themselves are generally 8 to 20 ft. in height and may be as long as 200 ft. in length or longer. Each palette rack has a bay of approximately 8 to 12 ft. in length with intermediate column or leg supports and generally three to four palette levels. These pallet levels or shelves are generally stocked with inventory 4 to 5 ft. in height. Thus the uniform weight per palette rack can range from 6,000 to 30,000 lbs. or greater depending on the density of the payloads and the length of each bay. Fully loaded, the racks themselves become semi-permanent structures within the warehouse/store, making reconfiguration of the store to accommodate changes in inventory extremely cumbersome. Thus in general, reconfiguring the store essentially requires a mini construction team to destruct and reconstruct the pallett racks. To do so the construction team must first remove the inventory from the palette shelves, then disassemble the palette racks and move both inventory and structure to the new location and lastly, reconstruct and reload the racks. Generally this store reconfiguration requires 5 to 10 crewmen and approximately 12 hours of continuous work, equating to approximately 120 man-hours in the most common scenario. Further, this reconfiguration must frequently occurr during the night hours so that the store can open for business the next day.
Thus, there is generally a need in the warehousing industry for a way to move and reconfige or reorganize the pallett racks and in the process reorganize the wholesale warehouse or store in the shortest and most efficient period of time, therefore reducing labor costs and business downtime. The following patents deal with apparatuses for moving various loads.
b) Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,844 (Hallman) provides a door transporting and support system where the apparatus can be used for easily transporting and installing a door within a door jamb. The door transporting and support system comprises a base having a door receiving channel, a pair of first arms extending from the base, a pair of second arms extending from the base, with a plurality of caster wheels attached to the arms, with each caster wheel vertically adjustable by a threaded shaft. The base includes a pair of parallel side walls which define the channel. The height, angle, and position of the door within the base are determined by the vertical position of each threaded shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,746 (Bergin) provides a motorcycle maneuvering apparatus where the apparatus is used for moving a motorcycle about in a cramped location. The motorcycle maneuvering apparatus comprises a front dolly member having a plurality of wheels, a pair of elongated frame sections which are conventionally supported upon the wheels, a pair of cross-member's spaced apart, interconnecting frame sections, a pair of elongate adjustable tire support members threaded upon the cross-members, and each including upright support members.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,537 (Cozza et al.) provides a plurality of dollies, each of which comprise a housing having upper and lower sides, a plurality of casters mounted on the lower side of the housing and a wall around each caster with each caster extending a predetermined distance beyond the respective wall. The top of the housing includes a means for engaging a rail extending down from a display case for supporting the display case. The casters are full swiveling and are sized in accordance with the load to be supported.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,230 (Riley et al.) discloses a rack lift assembly for transporting telecommunication equipment which includes a side mount plate connected to an equipment rack holding the telecommunication equipment. A caster plate is removably and rotatably connected to the side mount plates. The side mount plate has a latch bar to secure the caster plate in an operating position. The caster plate has a wheel to provide movement of the equipment rack holding the telecommunications equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,014 (Hough) discloses a dolly constructed to support the bottom portion of one of a pair of vertical upright piano legs. The dolly includes an elongated narrow bottom wall and a pair of laterally spaced opposite sidewalls. The channel is open at its opposite ends and along its upper end for receiving the support leg. The dolly includes a pair of right angle flanges respectively connected and extending laterally outward in opposite directions from the upper edges of the sidewalls of the support member. The carriage also includes a plurality of caster wheels mounted to the flanges for rollably supporting the member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,391 (Syring) discloses a recessed frame providing a low slung support which receives a gondola base member in a stable manner for repositioning gondolas in food stores and markets. Upright wall surfaces of the dolly prevent tipping of the gondola, while a resilient bottom surface of the dolly prevents accidental separation of the gondola base member and the dolly. Widely spaced caster wheels additionally contribute towards stable support of the gondola.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,470 (Murillo) discloses a compact three wheeled truck for use with vehicles having a flat or damaged tire. The truck secures the tire against forward movement. The ramp automatically pivots upward to a tire retaining position. The structure comprises a U-shaped frame of preferably tubular metal, the open end of the U being closed by a cross piece. Further, the single front wheel is a caster wheel mounted on an axle. Attached to the legs of the U-shaped frame is a cradle for the wheel to be carried by the truck. The cradle is a solid U-shaped member whose open end is substantially the same horizontal plane as the frame itself. Lastly, a ramp comprising two vertical sidewalls of scalene triangular shape, are connected by a rectangular top piece whose longer longitudinal sides are ribbed or perforated to save weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,341 (Minkoff) discloses a dolly device for moving hospital beds. Each dolly includes an elongated base-plate with a pair of swivel mounted casters attached to the bottom of the base-plate. Each caster includes a bracket attached to the base-plate by a faster where the caster and bracket can rotate around the fastener.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,006 (Johnson) discloses a furniture dolly with a horizontal frame and four swivel casters. The casters include spaced first and second side casters and third rearward caster, and fourth forward caster, where the third and fourth casters are mounted on the frame to contact the ground in the alternative allowing the frame to rock about the first and second casters. The frame includes a furniture receiving ledge with a horizontal shelf provided on the front side, and an upstanding backrest against which furniture can be placed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,640 (Fator) discloses a pair of separate wheeled dollies where the load supported acts as the connecting means between the dollies. One of the dollies has non-castering wheels while the other has casters to permit the load to be guided accurately. The elongated body is an inverted channel section with opposite vertical bracket ends, attached to the top of each vertical bracket is a short horizontal channel. The wheels are arranged beneath the short horizontal channel thus permitting the wheels to maintain the load at a relatively low position to the ground making placement of the load onto the dolly relatively easy.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,314,129 (Daley) discloses a caster truck for use in moving stoves, refrigerators, pianos and other heavy articles. A base plate is formed in a triangular shape with vertical flange walls on the perimeter sides. Horizontal arms extend a short distance at the top portion of the flange, and extend horizontally from each of the three triangular points. Caster wheels are attached to the bottom face of the horizontal arms.
US D340,337 (Beasley) discloses a design for a dolly to move doors. The design has an inverted channel with two fixed wheels attached to the bottom plate of the channel.
GB 2278811 (Tsappi) discloses a trolley designed to hang a door. The base of the trolley is a horizontal rectangular plate having two opposed longitudinal sides and two opposed short lateral sides. The longitudinal sides are formed with upright tabs. Each tab terminates in the wing portion which projects outwardly away from the base to provide support for vertical caster legs. Each caster leg carries a caster wheel at its lower end.
JP 06304030 (Minami) appears to disclose a dolly system and apparatus for transporting cabinetry. The dolly has an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion fits slidably over the lower portion and sits on a spring-loaded shock system. The lower portion includes an inner chamber region encompassing the spring-loaded shocks as well as providing wheel wells for the caster wheels. Each dolly has two caster wheels.